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De Atramentis Sahara Grey

RookSeven

By RookSeven
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RookSeven Near Mint

RookSeven

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Posted (edited)

Disclaimer: Scans are unedited apart from some cropping and resizing. Scans were done with a Canon CanoScan LiDE 110. Due to any possible scanning inaccuracies, and the change in color gamut and the accuracy of color reproduction from monitor to monitor, the colors you see on my scans on your screen might not exactly reflect the color of this ink in real life.

 

Here is my review of De Atramentis/Laywine's Sahara Grey! Hope you like. :)

 



http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w204/moneyless27/Ink%20Reviews/coverintro.jpg

 

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w204/moneyless27/Ink%20Reviews/allpapers.jpg

 

Onto the actual review!

 

 

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w204/moneyless27/Ink%20Reviews/review1.jpg

(Click picture for full-size)

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w204/moneyless27/Ink%20Reviews/review2.jpg

(Click picture for full-size)

 

Transcribed, if anyone has trouble reading my handwriting:

 

General Descriptions, Initial Observations, & Any Pertinent Info:

Bought this ink at Laywine's in Toronto after seeing merzig's July 2009 review of it. Seems to have some pretty dramatic shading in this Monteverde's wet "B" nib. Although at $14.95 for a 32ml bottle, it is fairly expensive. As merzig says in his review, the name of this ink has nothing to do with its color. It is not even close to grey, it is more of an olive green, with a slight brown tinge.

 

Flow/Lubcication: Flows very well, seems to lubricate well also. No trouble starting up after the pen has been left uncapped for a few minutes.

 

Comments/Conclusion: This is a wonderful ink with good behavior. It is a nice color - although the name of this ink does not even come close to describing it. A wetter-writing pen can produce quite spectacular shading, if you like that sort of thing; although at $14.95 for a $32ml bottle, it is a more relatively more costly ink. (Especially if you factor in shipping costs from Laywine's or Europe for you American folk.) Although it is nice, I don't know if I will personally make it a daily-use ink.

 

 

 

On Clairefontaine smooth 90g/m² graph paper:

 

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w204/moneyless27/Ink%20Reviews/review3.jpg

(Click picture for full-size)

 

 

On Staples "Sustainable Earth" sugar cane/bagasse lined paper:

 

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w204/moneyless27/Ink%20Reviews/review4.jpg

(Click picture for full-size)

 

 

Waterproof-ness tests:

 

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w204/moneyless27/Ink%20Reviews/review5.jpg

(Click picture for full-size)

 

As you can see, the ink is not 100% waterproof: the green/yellow components off the ink wash off, leaving behind grey.

 

 

 

Some pretty nice shading:

 

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w204/moneyless27/Ink%20Reviews/shading1.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w204/moneyless27/Ink%20Reviews/shading2.jpghttp://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w204/moneyless27/Ink%20Reviews/shading3.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w204/moneyless27/Ink%20Reviews/shading4.jpg

 

 

Pens used in this test: (Link to picture >here.)

  • Monteverde Invincia Stealth, wet "B" nib (more like Medium)
  • Pilot 78G, M (like west. Fine)

 

Click >here for a closer look at the ink bottle's label.

 

 

Disclaimer: Scans are unedited apart from some cropping and resizing. Scans were done with a Canon CanoScan LiDE 110. Due to any possible scanning inaccuracies, and the change in color gamut and the accuracy of color reproduction from monitor to monitor, the colors you see on my scans on your screen might not exactly reflect the color of this ink in real life.

Edited by RookSeven
http://i.imgur.com/05HpL.pnghttp://i.imgur.com/ifi8V.png
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RookSeven Near Mint

RookSeven

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Hmm. I just noticed the camera pictures represent the true color of this ink better than my scans. Oh well. :P Maybe I need to learn to use this new scanner properly or something. :embarrassed_smile:

http://i.imgur.com/05HpL.pnghttp://i.imgur.com/ifi8V.png
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PAKMAN Ancient Artifact

PAKMAN

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Wow so the only time it is really a gray ink is after it gets a bath! :headsmack:

PAKMAN

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kazuo Near Mint

kazuo

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The name can be "(in) Rainforest (it will be) Grey" =].

 

Thanks for the review. The scans show a color that is too light for me, but I like the color on the photographs.

“The journey is more important than the destination—that’s part of

life, if you only live for getting to the end, you’re almost always

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dcpritch Collectors Item

dcpritch

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Great review, as usual! I appreciate how thorough you are - it must take a long time to put a review like this together. I like the color of this ink - looks like it is somewhere between Noodler's Army Green, Stipula Verde Muschioto, and R&K Alt Goldgrun, all of which are favorites of mine.

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That part which laws or kings can cause or cure.
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RookSeven Near Mint

RookSeven

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Great review, as usual! I appreciate how thorough you are - it must take a long time to put a review like this together. I like the color of this ink - looks like it is somewhere between Noodler's Army Green, Stipula Verde Muschioto, and R&K Alt Goldgrun, all of which are favorites of mine.

 

Yeah, I couldn't do any comparisons since I don't have any other inks that come close to this one in color. :(

 

That can only mean one thing: MUST GET AN INK SAMPLE OF EVERY INK! :P

http://i.imgur.com/05HpL.pnghttp://i.imgur.com/ifi8V.png
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drifting Vintage

drifting

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Excellent review, thanks for all the photos. I quite like this ink, though it's lighter than is my usual wont, so it doesn't get a ton of use from me.

 

 

Great review, as usual! I appreciate how thorough you are - it must take a long time to put a review like this together. I like the color of this ink - looks like it is somewhere between Noodler's Army Green, Stipula Verde Muschioto, and R&K Alt Goldgrun, all of which are favorites of mine.

 

Yeah, I couldn't do any comparisons since I don't have any other inks that come close to this one in color. :(

 

That can only mean one thing: MUST GET AN INK SAMPLE OF EVERY INK! :P

 

Oooh, it's a slippery slope. But a heck of a ride!

 

And I'm not sure there are any inks that come close, anyway.

 

Ryan.

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drifting Vintage

drifting

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Okay, so I got to thinking further about what else I've got that comes close. Nothing really, but here are a couple of the colours mentioned above, plus a few other oddballs for good measure.

 

A quick and dirty scan, YMMV.

 

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d49/seouldrifting/SaharaComp1.jpg

 

Ryan.

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pmsalty Vintage

pmsalty

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Nice review for an ugly ink.

PMS

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty -Thomas Jefferson

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lovemy51 Antique

lovemy51

Posted
Posted

Nice review for an ugly ink.

PMS

:roflmho:

 

i don't know if i like the color or not. i do think it' a very interesting color worth getting... maybe just a 2cc sample :blush: i wonder if the pear tree co sells the samples. :hmm1:

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meowmda Mint

meowmda

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Nicely done review! I know what you mean about the color accuracy issue. I'm afraid to post any pictures because everybody else in the world must have their monitor calibrated differently than me!

 

I'm still on the fence about trying this ink. I was thinking it was the same color as the Khaki, which I think was a limited edition. (Which I never had, but had seen a review or scan of.)

 

Thanks Drifting for posting the comparison. I really think I like the Khaki much better!!!

 

The Rikyu-Cha still looks the best to me, and I just won a bottle from the bay, so hopefully will have it in another week or so. :D :D

"We're out of cornflakes. F.U.' It took me three hours to figure out F.U. stood for Felix Unger!"

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rroossinck Antique

rroossinck

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Nice review for an ugly ink.

PMS

:roflmho:

 

i don't know if i like the color or not. i do think it' a very interesting color worth getting... maybe just a 2cc sample :blush: i wonder if the pear tree co sells the samples. :hmm1:

 

Wish we still had some, but I sold my last bottle quite a while ago. It might have gone to New Zealand, or perhaps Australia?

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wrath186 Extremely Rare

wrath186

Posted
Posted

Great review!! I have a bottle myself and was a bit disappointed that it wasn't grey. Although, after looking at it for a bit it did sort of remind me of pictures of the dunes in the Sahara. Fantastic shading in a broad or medium nib wet pen.

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/606/letterji9.png
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Strang Collectors Item

Strang

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Posted

I bought this ink after seeing a sample in a letter from a pen pal. It's not grey, but it's an interesting colour.

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